S. Korea\'s industrial power sales jump 9.1% in Oct.

South Korea\'s industrial electricity sales jumped 9.1 percent last month from a year earlier due to surging demand from energy-intensive sectors, a government report showed Monday. Sales of industrial electricity, a gauge of industrial activities, reached 21.1 billion kilowatt-hours in October, up 9.1 percent from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The October figure marked the 29th straight month of on-year expansion, and it accounted for 59 percent of total power sales. The last month\'s strong power sales came as electricity demand from energy-intensive sectors grew sharply amid brisk exports, the ministry said. Power consumption by the machinery industry surged 38.6 percent on-year in October, with electricity sales to chemical firms and automobile assembly lines growing 20.2 percent and 12 percent respectively. Meanwhile, electricity sales for households, general usage and education edged up 0.3 percent, 2.8 percent and 3.4 percent each on-year last month, but total power sales, including industrial sector, expanded 6.1 percent on-year to 35.6 billion kilowatt- hours in October, the ministry said.